Explosive missile



a. T. NEWTON.

EXPLOSIVE MISSILE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I2, 1918.

1,369,701.. Patented Feb. 22,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor:

Jm MA R. T. NEWTON.

.JEXPLOSIVE MISSILE APPLICATION man FEB 12. 1918.

1,369,701 Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor:

MW a. A 213 8.

Be it known that I, .RICHARi) uni-res is s Brennan NEWTON, on NEW 2031:, 'N. Y., ASSIGNQR :ro Amvrs rnopuc'rs COMPANY,

or NEw'YoRK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK.

. EXPLOSIVE MISSILE.

To all whom it may concern p I v T. NEWTON, a citizen of. the 'UnitedStates of America, residing in the city, county, and State of New York,havefinvented certain new and useful, Improvements .in ExplosiveMissiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to exploslvemissiles and generally to explosivemissiles whether they be of the [hand-thrown oiacharge projected type.Although I haveshown the invention in the accompanying drawings asaprojectlle of the type commonly known as 1 :jeetile.

grenades, which maybe thrown by hand or fired from a gunand aregenerally of relatively small size, the features to, which, my inventionrelates areapplicable to projectiles of any type and are perhapsapplicable more particularly to projectiles of the larger gun sizes,such as are commonly knownas shells.

nism maybe either of the percussion typeor of the time fusetype, or bothmay be combined in a single projectile, and my in vention is applicableto all three types. Preferably, the guard is so. constructed that onitsrelease of the firing mechanism, the guard moves to a position inwhich it. acts as a vane forv directing the flight oftheprostr-uctedthat they impart to the projectile, during its flight,anaxial rotation .similar to, that Ordinarilyimparted to a projectile bythe rifling of the barrel throughiwhich it ifs'discharged. ,A- furtherfeature of the invention is to provide a combined guard and guide vanein whi h the features specifiedare embodied, which, at the same time, isof simple andcheap construction, readily applied to, the projectile, and"at.all times efiicient for its several purposes. In theaccompanyingdrawings,

Figure 1 isa side-elevation of a pro ectile of thepercussiongrenade'type, to which my invention islapplied in one f om;

Fig. 2 is a plan'thereof;

Fig. 3, is alongitudinal section through;

Specification of Iietjters Patent. Application filed February 12,;1818,Serial n ziaesa The particular feature to which .my invention relates,is a guard which renders the projectile relatively safe during han- Thevanes are preferably --so .con-

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation 9f *the. guard vanes provided. withlateral flanges inclined to the axis of the projectile and designed toimpart to the latter, axial rotation during flight;

1 Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section througha "projectile of the grenadetype, not only showlnga guard of further modified COD eaten fr Leame.

struction, but a mod-ified grenade construe tion in whlch the-explosivecharge may be time fuse fired either by a percussion member or a Fig. 6is a sectionon line 6 -r6,"Fig.- 5

indicating the position assumed thereby when the vane is locked intrailingposition;

Fig. 8. is a verticalisection through a portion of a guard of. modifiedvane construction;

Fig, 9 is a section on the line 9-9, Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a horizontalsection through the vanes showing their relative location when intrailing position; and l5 Fig-11 is a side elevation of a vane providedwith spiral ribs for imparting axial rotation to the projectile 1'Qrdinar'ily, a projectile of the type to which the present inventionrelates must be handled. very carefully prior to, and even Fig. 7 is aside elevationof the vane arm,

at the moment of firing, in order to, prevent explosion of the chargetherein through acfires the fuse and the grenade explodes pre maturely.In otherj grenades, the striker is held against accidentaldisplacementby pins which arewi-thdrawn' bypthe rotation of a wind vane during theflight of the grenade;v Unless the vanes act, the grenade strikesharmlessly and maybe returned by the enemy. By the present constructionI have provided not only, an efiicient and relatively safe guard againstpremature explosion of the missile, but I have also utilized'thisguardto form a guide which holds the missile head on during its flight andpreferably imparts thereto an axial rotation "substantially equivalentto that normally imparted to a projectile by the rifling of the gunbarrel through which it is fired.

A ignites the detonator 25, 'thus firing the charge 26 which fills thebody of the casing.

The firing pin 22 is normally held against movement by the fragilecrosspin 27, which is readily broken upon impact against the firing pin head28;

Obviously, the firing pin must be guarded against accidental-impactduring the handling of the grenade prior to its discharge.

For this purpose, I have pivoted to the ca s ing at 29 and 30 a pair ofarms 31, 32,

, the free ends of which comprise Webs 33-34,

approaching each other and overlapping to receive a locking cross pin 35of any suitable type. I have here shown it as. a cotter pin, the eye endof which is enlarged to permit its ready withdrawal. The wings 3334 arenotched out at 236-37 to receive the margins of the firing pinhead 28,thus holding the latter against accidental dis placement into engagementwith the detonating cap '24. Flange's3839 are prefer- 'ablyformed' onthe webs 3334. and extend.

at right angles to the plane of the latter in order to notonly furtherprotect the cap 28 against accidental blows, but alsoto assist- .in'.swinging the. arms 3132 from their guard position to their trailingposition,'in which they act as guide vanes during the flight of themissile. This movement of the flanges 38 is caused by the pressureexerted upon the flanges by the'air as the missile speeds therethrough.The air column e11- tering between the flanges .38, impinges upon themp3? and tends to force the flanges -3839 apart, thus throwing the arms3132 around 'on their loose pivots 29-30 to their trailing position. Itis obvious that the firing'pin is 'now' exposed, so that on impactagainst its head 37, the fragile retaining pin 21 1s broken and thefiring pin driven in against the detonating cap 24.

111 Fig. 4'Ihave indicated a construction of the flanges 3839 'in which.they are "angled to the'direction of travel, so that they ii'npa'rt'tothe, missile an axial rotation dur-' ing its flight. This tends toinsure preci- 'sion' "of direction in manner well under- 'stoorl'in'theart. Q I

If 'l'es'ired; means may be provided for holding the arms 3l'32 1ntrailing position.

Thus, I have indicated in dotted lines, Fig.

1, a snap cat ch arrangement operating by centrifugal force. This devicecomprises a hook member 40 pivoted-at 41 to the arm 31 and of suchlength that when both arms are within the projectile casing.

is notched at 57 'to engage .the firing pin :ed.in I construction.

swung back to trailing position, the hook 40 will swing into engagementwith the eye 42 carried by the arm 32. Both arms are preferably made ofchannel section, folded to shape from sheetmetal, so that the hook 40may readily be accommodated in the "interspace between the wings 33 ofthe arm 31. In order to steady the arms andre'lieve the'pins 2930 fromstrain, channels 4344 are formed in the shell 20 to receive the arms3132,-and these channels are continued on the opposite sides of thepivots 2930 by the channels45-46, which form steadying guideways for thearms in their trailing position. p I, In Fig. 5 I have shown theprojectile with a head 47 screwed into one endand carrying not only-apercussion pin 48 to e06 erate with the firin cap 49, but alsoa iiise 50adapted to be ignited by the cap .51 on impact thereagainst by thefiring needle 52, under the action of its spring'53. The fuse 50 or cap49 (or both) serves to'ignite the detonator 54 which fires the entirecharge In order to 90 safeguard the grenade against premature explosion,I utilize, in this modification, but a single guard arm 55, the web 56of which head 58, and also notched at 59 to engage 9 5 the lug 60extending from the head of the needle'52 and overlying the inclinedupper edge of thefingers 61, through which passes the-locking pin 62. onthe removal of the locking cotter pin 62, the arm 55 is free to swingaround to such position that the web 56 takes a, trailin position in amanner similar to that ind cated in Fig. 3. In the present case, the web56 is sufliciently extended to perform the functions ofvboth webs of thetwo levers indicated in the pre- In the present case also, the arm 55 isbell-cranked and is centrally pivoted 'ona, pin 63 on the casing. As theweb 56 moves to the'left during the flight offthe projectile, it freesnot only the head'58 of the firing p1n148, but also the lug 60 0f theneedle pin 52. The latter is immediatelydriven by its spring 53 againstthe cap 51, thus exploding the latter and igniting the fuse 50,- whichmay, of course,

be timed as, desired. Should the missile reach its objective before thefuse is consumed, it'islfiregl by the percussion pin 48 If thepercussion pin is not operated onimpact, or if the fuse burns out beforethe missile strikes,then the detonator charge 54 I is ignited by thefuse and'the grenade thus exploded.

I In order to lock the'wing piece56 in its 125, trailing position, itspivot pine?) is given a T' form, and the pivoting eye'for the arm 55 isextended on one side in the form of a slot .64, so that when'the' armswings around to the position indicated-in Fig. 7, the shank imanner asheretofore. swung around to tralhng position, the webs of the ll-pin63automatically entersxthe slot 6a and thus holds the' arm 55 rigidly inposition in Figs. construction of the webs of the guard arms.

:These. webs 65.66 are now curved into semi-cylindrical form andprovided with form oppositely faced, troughss'haped vanes which areequally effective in guiding the missile on its flight. Y

In Fig. 11 I have shown'the web as cylindrical element 72 carried by asingle arm 73 and provided with circumferential spiral fins 74, (ofwhich only two are inclicated on the drawing) which impart a'twir ingmotion to the projectile as it flies. In

i this construction, I have shown the arms 7 3 firing means.

sirable.

as provided with a flange 74s engaging .the head 7 5 of the firing pin.This head is per forated at 76 to receive the cotter pin 77 which isdrawn out of its locking position when the projectile is about to befired. The flange 7 8 on the wing piece 74 is pierced to receive thelocking pin. r

l have shown the arms 31-3.2'provided with fins or vanes, which not onlyform a guard for the firing means, but also move to guiding position ontheir release of the It is clear, however, that either function may beutilized by itself.

Thus if merel Y a uard and not a uide is desired, the arms may bepivoted to the cas-' ing or" the grenade in an open bearing such that onswinging backward from guard position,the arms would drop oil. Contrariewise, if-a guide and not a guard'is wanted,

the vanes may be fixedly attached to the grenade in guiding position.

The grenade may be thrown by hand, or it may be fired from a gun. Inorder to adapt it the usual practice in the latter respect, the rear endof the grenade is provided with a threaded boss 7 9 on which'thecartridge holder 80 is screwed. has'a series of holes 81 in its wall,through which the casing of the shell 82 is blown .wheuth latter isfired, so that both the holder and cartridge are carried by the grenadeduring its flight. On the other hand, the construction of the missile issuch that it may be inserted bodily in the breech of a gun, preferablyofsmooth bore, and be projected by a special cartridge or shell. Inlarger sizes, this would be especially de- It will be noted, in thisconnection, that the arms 31-32 lie withinthe greatest overalltransverse diameter of the projectile, and furthermore. that at thepoint of greatest diameter, a packing ring 83 is formed by v litfiSlilgoi the shell and 9 I have shown a modified I from what I claim Thelatter 7 interrupting the lo'ngitudinal seams which, withthe-circumferential seams, divide the into shrapnel segments.

Various othermodifications and developmeals of the device will readilyoccur to" those skilled in the art which do not depart as my lnvention.

. I claim 1. An explosive projectile having at its head end firingmeans, and guard means therefor normally protecting sald firmg means butmoving from protecting to trailing position at the rear of theprojectile durin the flight of the projectile.

an explosive projectile having at its head end firing mechanism andguide means normally engaging said firing mechanism to hold it againstactuation during the initiation of the missiles flight, but moving intooperative guiding position at the rear of the projectile after saidflight has been initiated.

3. An explosive projectile having firing mechanism at its head end, andguide means normally engaging said mechanism to holdit againstactuation, but moving rearward thereof into guide position after theflight of the projectile is initiated. i 1

4t; An explosive projectile having at its head end a percussion memberand guide means normally. holding said member against actuation butautomatically releasing the same and moving to guide position at therear of the projectile during the flight of the missile.

5. A missile having at its head end means for exploding the same, incombination with guide means normally guarding said'explosive meansagainst operation, but automatically releasing said explosive means andmoving to guiding position at the rear-of the'projectile during theflight of the missile. 6. :A missile having a detonating charge, apercussion member at the head of the missile for firing the detonator,and guide means normally holding said percussion memberagainstactuation, but automatically releasing the same and moving to guidingposition at the rear of the projectile during the flight of the missile.

. 7. .An explosive missile having impact firing means at its head end,means engaging said firing means to normally prevent the operationthereof but operatively displaced during the flight of the projectilefrom guard position under the influence of wind pressure thereon,together with detachable means carried by the projectile for holdingsaid guard means normally in operative flight of the projectile underthe influence of wind pressure thereon, and removable means for normallyholding said guard on removal freeing said guard means to permeans inoperative position. i mit the latter to be operatively displaced out 109. An explosive missile having impact firof guard position under theinfluence of ing means, guard means engaging said fir wind pressurethereon during the flight of ing means to prevent accidental or prema-.the projectile.

. ture operation thereof, and removable means In testimony whereof Ihave signed my the guard means in operative position, but

normally carried by the projectile to hold name to this specificatlon.

RICHARD T. NEWTON.

